when honda made the nsx,they wanted to make a great car that made a statement.they were better than ferraris when they came out,and had huge development costs,especially for the groundbreaking aluminum suspension.i don't think they made any money on them ,even though a new one was $82,500 on 1995 when mine was made.they created an excitement about the brand,and gave the best people in the company a job to aspire to.

this is what bmw is in danger of losing if they weaken the m brand.they may make more money in the short run within the m division by producing cars with less parts that are unique to the m,but may lose the excitement about all bmw's that having a special model creates.it also becomes a less attractive place for the best engineers and designers.they may also lose the excitement of younger car enthusiasts who buy an entry-level bmw with the goal of getting an m someday.i know the mystique and performance of the m3 were the things that drew me to bmw in the first place. all the time and money that bmw put into the e9x m3 to take it to a higher level of performance,and the fact that it's a lot more than just a trim package makes it very satisfying to me,beyond mere performance numbers,which don't tell the whole story.

As a former multiple NSX owner, I can attest to the greatness of the cars, but Honda gave up early on any continued technical development & it stalled in the marketplace in the late 90's. My final NSX was a 2005 - last year of production. BTW, MSRP was $89,765 in 2005....

I kept fooling myself that it was still the greatest car out there & hung on to it till 2010. Was a great driver, but also had a cassette player in the dash. Honda threw in the towel on the NSX to concentrate on the masses & I needed a change.

The M3 is a huge step forward for me in overall performance + technology.